News

The changeable weather this weekend was a touchstone for Dominique Aegerter on Saturday for a better performance on his WSBK debut at the traditional English circuit Donington Park.

Like both practice sessions on Friday, Saturday at round six of the season began with mixed conditions. After overnight rain showers, the track was still wet in places, so Dominique Aegerter had only a few laps in free practice three to prepare for the subsequent Superpole. It was foreseeable that the track would be completely dry by then. In the 15-minute time chase for the best grid positions, the 32-year-old Yamaha rider ended up in sixth place.

From this starting position, Aegerter got off to a good start in the first main race of the weekend, even though he had to drop two places on the first lap. From then on, he fought in eighth place for keep up with front group. From the second third of the race onwards, Aegerter suffered a tyre drop which led to decreasing grip, so that he initially lost one position and later dropped down to tenth place, until a few corners before the finish line he lost two more places due to a carelessness.

The first race on Sunday will be the ten-lap Superpole race, followed by the second main race of the weekend. However, there is an important change here, as each race will start two hours later than usual. ServusTV will broadcast live in full in German-speaking countries, as will the stream on worldsbk.com.

#77 Dominique AEGERTER (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK, Yamaha YZF R1)
Grid position: 6 / Race 1: P12

"This morning we suffered a little from the track’s conditions. The laps on a dry track were very limited in FP3. But by Superpole conditions were completely dry, so we could start immediately with the qualifier tyre and also improve every time we went out with a new tyre. With a lot of grip, I felt very comfortable on the bike. In the end it was enough for sixth spot on the gird, which was good considering the circumstances due to the changeable weather. From this position we can also start the sprint race tomorrow. However, we lacked the practice time for the race set-up. That should not be an excuse, because the conditions were the same for everyone. But the riders with more experience had a small advantage and could also benefit from their track knowledge."

"The first laps of the race were okay. I was able to stay well within the top 10 and fought for eighth place. But then the grip gradually faded. It was difficult to keep a consistent pace. I also suffered a bit physically because the 23 laps were very strenuous. At the end I made a mistake when I saw that something was broken on Phillip Öttl's bike. It was smoking and you could smell it too. That irritated me so much that I braked two meters too late in a corner and was afraid of missing the entry. That was why I went into the gravel. This carelessness cost me two places. I am sorry, this mistake is on me. But I feel well prepared for Sunday, even though there is still a lot to do because today's race was the first session in the dry. So, we will work hard to improve for tomorrow. Hopefully Superpole race and the second race will be on a dry track."

#GBRWorldSBK - Superpole:
1 Jonathan REA / GBR / Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR / 1´26.041
2 Alvaro BAUTISTA / SPA / Aruba.it Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4R / 1´26.109 +0.068
3 Danilo PETRUCCI / ITA / Barni Spark Racing Team / Ducati Panigale V4R / 1´26.205 +0.164
6 #77 Dominique AEGERTER / SWI / GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1 / 1´26.502 +0.461

#GBRWorldSBK - Race 1 (23 Laps):
1 Alvaro BAUTISTA / SPA / Aruba.it Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4R / 33´28.763
2 Toprak RAZGATLIOGLU / TUR / Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1 / +3.718
3 Jonathan REA / GBR / Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR / +6.115
12 #77 Dominique AEGERTER / SWI / GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1 / +30.859

WorldSBK Standing:
1 Alvaro BAUTISTA / SPA / Ducati / 323
2 Toprak RAZGATLIOGLU / TUR / Yamaha / 232
3 Andrea LOCATELLI / ITA / Yamaha / 161
8 #77 Dominique AEGERTER / SWI / Yamaha / 92

#GBRWorldSBK - Time Schedule for Sunday July 2nd (CEST):
10:00 - 10:15 Warm Up
14:00 Superpole-Race (10 Laps - 40.230 km)
16:00 Race 2 (23 Laps - 92.529 km)